A while back I wrote about how some goon stole the rear wheel of Doede’s antique bakfiets. After some measurements we determined that this bike was quite strange in that the rear hub axle and crank axle were narrower than usual. Consequently the chain line is much closer to the center of the bike meaning that even if we widened the frame (40mm!) to fit one of our wheels the rear cog wouldn’t line up with the chainring in front anyway. It was decided to bring the bakfiets to the WorkCycles shop for further investigation and repair.

So how does one transport a non-functional bakfiets? On another bakfiets of course! Here Mette van der Linden (brother of web genius and maker of these photos Doede) rides the bakfiets ambulance across Amsterdam. Mind you, an old bakfiets is not exactly something you can just toss in your car, even if you happen to have one; This particular example is over 300cm long, 130cm wide and weighs probably 130kg… OK somewhat less since it’s missing it’s almost 10kg rear wheel thanks to some knuckle-dragging cretin.

blackdawn, Agreed that it would have avoided the heavy lifting but the “trailgator concept” would in turn require some fairly ingenious rigging and be a pain to ride. It’d also require a trike as a tow vehicle since a bike needs to lean with the backwards bakfiets wouldn’t. Hernias aside I think they did it the easy way after all.

BlackDawn, Keep in mind that no solutions were needed at all for this transport. Doede and Mette just borrowed a bakfiets and returned a couple hours later with two of them. They didn’t have any problem doing it and seemed to have fun in the process.

I’m sure if we made a habit of riding incapacitated bakfietsen around by bicycle we’d invent a better way to do it but for now this seems to work just fine. It’s just not something that comes up every day.

Henry, Murphy told me to update you on the 50 bakfiets you will need to tow next week as a result of your answer 😛

for me the fun would be to improvise the towing bar, so again that’s what I would do, riding a 260Kg monster with bad visibility & a wide load (even one time) – no fun at all imho. so we can argue on this issue all week, it’s not a matter of the right way to do it, but each preferred way.

Judging by how narrow the rear axle of the original wheel was it sounds like a front wheel from a standard bike could have been bolted on temporarily and then a buddy could have towed the disabled bike back to the shop. They might have even been able to attach the rear end to an old skateboard. In any case the way that they did it was probably the quickest.

Mark, the rear axle of Doede’s bakfiets is 140mm thus still slightly wider than any standard bicycle wheel. The rear axles of our own bakfietsen are 170mm! But even if they had a spare rear wheel to put in the bakfiets towing that beast would be a huge hassle. How would they steer it with that huge box swinging around?

Keep in mind that these guys are not particularly mechanically inclined, which is why they brought their wheel-less bakfiets to our shop in the first place. So a little heave-ho and the job was basically done. No need to invent special solutions for non-problems.

Mark, One extra wheel won’t change the fact that the two bakfiets are a lot heavier than a bicycle & bakfiets, so less resistance here, as for maneuvering, did you notice the two bakfiets are about 2-2.5m wide? that’s a lot for an SUV (hum-v is about 2-2.2), not to mention a bicycle.

There is no best way, there is only a way. mine will be easiest to ride while Mette’s way is the simplest, yours is in the middle.

By the way… We (and Henry) had great difficulties finding a second hand wheel in the first place. But finding a new wheel is difficult as well, because it’s not a standard size at all. Meaning, I think, that the scoundrels that stole our wheel, can’t use it for anything. :-p

Doede, Speaking of that strange rear wheel… it’s replacement was built yesterday and should be installed today. It was a serious quest to find a suitable hub, rim and spokes that could be combined into a wheel. So now you’ve got an Italian moped hub, Belgian 10 gauge spokes, an Italian transporter rim and a Dutch bakfiets tire… and a fat invoice we’ll just have to settle up with future web work, of which there’s always plenty to do.

I recommend painting this wheel in some garish color to ward off future scumbags.

BlackDawn, Very possible though I don’t usually like to credit thieves with so much forethought and intelligence. Most of the bakfietsen in the city that aren’t owned by the couple shops that rent them are very sloppily and randomly repaired with parts from whatever donor was available: cheap mountain bike tires and cranks, bed frames mounted (crooked yet) as cargo carriers, fenders long gone…

In any case it’s much easier to fit a narrower wheel to a wider frame than the reverse. The cog, for example, can be moved outboard with spacers, but not inward.

Hey, is it too late to suggest an inflatable balloon with a Workcycles logo for heavy lifting assist as long as didnt get in the way of the trams or you would use https://www.angelfire.com/rebellion/nikotus/poster.jpg instead as an image as long as you donated the fee or changed the party the next time.

Ooh, I really like the heavy lifting balloon as another highly technical solution for a nonexistent problem. Just think about the need for sophisticated tethering and steering systems, helium storage, an entire art devoted to the safe connection of the balloon and the bakfiets and the skills needed to guide it through the city. I suppose we’ll have to offer courses and certifications to the rental customers who want to use the system.